Dutch gov't party calls for #MeToo investigation in politics

Submitted by Janene Pieters on January 5, 2018 - 10:40

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D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma is calling for an internal investigation into sexual harassment in Dutch politics. According to him, the#MeToo trend drew a lot of much needed attention to this issue, but it should not be left with only media attention, NOS reports.

Sjoerdsma wants the internal investigation to look into sexual harassment in the Ministries as well as in the Eerste Kamer and Tweede Kamer - the Dutch Senate and lower house of parliament. He wants to investigate how safe employees are in the work environment.

"The government is one of the biggest employers. We can not afford not to look into this. That starts with a critical look at ourselves. Do employees feel safe and do they dare to report misconduct? We have to start working on that", Sjoerdsma said, according to the broadcaster.

The parliamentarian will propose this investigation during a debate on sexual harassment, which will be held in the coming weeks. It is not yet clear whether his proposal can count on a parliamentary majority.